Azerbaijan says Armenia fired at its military positions in Lachin region overnight

Azerbaijan said on Monday that Armenian forces fired at its military positions in the country’s western Lachin region overnight.

A statement from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that its forces near the villages of Zabukh and Jaghazur were fired upon by Armenian forces late Sunday between 10 p.m. and 10.10 p.m local time (1800-1810GMT).

“We would like to inform you that in recent days, units of Armenia’s Armed Forces have fired on our positions several times, and all these cases have been registered accordingly,” the statement added.

A later statement Monday said that Armenian forces opened fire again at Azerbaijani military positions near Zabukh at around 2.10 p.m. local time (1210GMT).

Armenia’s Defense Ministry denied Baku’s statements, claiming they do not “correspond to reality.”

The two incidents are the first of their kind to be reported by Baku since September 2024.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh — a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan — and seven adjacent regions, including Lachin.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization talks and the demarcation of their border.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an “anti-terrorist operation” after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.​​​​​​​